Digital Audio Basics

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Juniper Gerard Ferguson
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1 CSC 170 Introduction to Computers and Their Applications Lecture #2 Digital Audio Basics Digital Audio Basics Digital audio is music, speech, and other sounds represented in binary format for use in digital devices. Most digital devices have a built-in microphone and audio software, so recording external sounds is easy. 1

Digital Audio Basics To digitally record sound, samples

stored as numeric data in an audio file.

2 Digital Audio Basics To digitally record sound, samples of a sound wave are collected at periodic intervals and stored as numeric data in an audio file. Sound waves are sampled many times per second by an analog-to-digital converter. A digital-to-analog converter transforms the digital bits into analog sound waves. Digital Audio Basics 2

3 Digital Audio Basics Sampling rate refers to the number of times per second that a sound is measured during the recording process. Higher sampling rates increase the quality of the recording but require more storage space. Digital Audio File Formats A digital file can be identified by its type or its file extension, such as Thriller.mp3 (an audio file). The most popular digital audio formats are: AAC, MP3, Ogg, Vorbis, WAV, FLAC, and WMA. 3

4 Digital Audio File Formats AUDIO FORMAT EXTENSION ADVANTAGES DISADVANTAGES AAC (Advanced Audio Coding) MP3 (also called MPEG-1 Layer 3).aac,.m4p, or.mp4.mp3 Very good sound quality based on MPEG-4; lossy compression; used for itunes music Good sound quality; lossy compression; can be streamed over the Web Ogg Vorbis.Ogg Free, open standard; lossy compression; supported by some browsers Files can be copy protected so that use is limited to approved devices Might require a standalone player or browser plugin Slow to catch on as a popular standard; part of Google's WebM format Digital Audio File Formats AUDIO FORMAT EXTENSION ADVANTAGES DISADVANTAGES WAV.Wav Good sound quality; supported in browsers without a plugin FLAC (Free Lossless Audio Compression) WMA (Windows Media Audio).flac.wma Excellent sound quality; lossless compression Lossy or lossless compression; very good sound quality; used on several music download sites Audio data is stored in raw, noncompressed format, so files are very large Open source format support ported by many devices Files can be copy protected; requires an add-on player for some devices 4

5 Digital Audio File Formats Ripping is a slang term that refers to the process of importing tracks from a CD or DVD to your computer s hard disk. The technical term for ripping music tracks is digital audio extraction. A download copies a file from a private network or Internet server to a local device. Audio files can be acquired as a live stream or on-demand stream in addition to downloads. Digital Audio File Formats 5

Digital Audio File Formats To play a digital audio file, you must use some type of audio software, such as: Audio players: small standalone software application or mobile app.

6 Digital Audio File Formats To play a digital audio file, you must use some type of audio software, such as: Audio players: small standalone software application or mobile app. Audio plugins: software that works in conjunction with your computer s browser to manage and play audio from a Web page. Audio software: general-purpose software and apps used for recording, playing, and modifying audio files, such as itunes, Windows Media Player, and Audacity. Digital Audio File Formats 6

MIDI MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) specifies a standard way to store

MIDI messages are instructions that specify the pitch of a note, the point at which the

An MIDI message may look like this: MIDI Music composition software with MIDI support

7 MIDI MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) specifies a standard way to store music data for synthesizers, electronic MIDI instruments, and computers. MIDI messages are instructions that specify the pitch of a note, the point at which the note begins, the volume of the note, etc. An MIDI message may look like this: MIDI Music composition software with MIDI support makes it easy to place notes on a screenbased music staff then play back the composition on a MIDI keyboard or through the speakers of a digital device. 7

8 Digitized Speech Speech synthesis is the process by which machines produce sound that resembles spoken words. Speech recognition (or voice recognition) refers to the ability of a machine to understand spoken words. Digitized Speech Speech recognition software analyzes the sounds of your voice and converts each word into groups of phonemes (basic sound units). The software then compares the groups to the words in a digital dictionary to find a match. When a match is found, the software can display the word on the screen or use it to carry out a command. 8

9 Digitized Speech 9

Skill Area 214: Use a Multimedia Software. Software Application (SWA)

Skill Area 214: Use a Multimedia Application (SWA) Skill Area 214: Use a Multimedia 214.4 Produce Audio Files What is digital audio? Audio is another meaning for sound. Digital audio refers to a digital